When is right wrong?

Acts 24
“It is about the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you today.”

Doug was in the second grade, and he loved math. He was good at it, too, so it was quite a shock when he came home one afternoon with tears in his eyes. He stuck a paper in my face with a less than perfect score and explained that he had been marked down for a problem that he knew was “right” but the teacher had said was “wrong.” “See Mom?” I did see. It was the picture of a clock with the small hand pointing at the two, the long hand pointing to the ten. On his worksheet, Doug had said the time was 1:50. When he had talked with the teacher, she had said the correct time was 10:10. When I looked, Doug was right.

The next day I went to see the teacher to express my concern. She kept saying, “I know it appears to be 1:50 but the correct answer is 10:10.” How did she get such an answer? Her response was, “The answer book says 10:10 and books don’t make mistakes.” Needless to say, I was not going to get anywhere, so I thanked her for her time and visited the principal who said he would take care of it. At home with Doug I explained that though he was right, he would have to live with the grade the teacher gave him. And he did, though reluctantly.

It is a good lesson to learn. We don’t always win, even if we are right. Life is not fair all the time. What does count is the way we handle the unfairness, the difficulties, and the attitudes we develop when we face that which makes no sense to us at all! 

The story of Paul as recorded in Acts 24 illustrates this point. As he stands before the Governor Felix, an attorney named Tertullus, and “the Jews,” Paul is asked to speak. At the end of his speech, Paul says, as recorded in verse 23, “It is about the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you today.” As a result, Paul remained in custody. This went on for two long years and then some.

For Paul, what he knew was right was seen as wrong. Yet, despite the hearings and confinement and accusations, Paul still left an impression on many who encountered him. Today we read the writings of Paul and find them inspirational and even life changing.

Prayer:  God of Right, give me patience and understanding. Help me stand firm when I speak boldly for you. Amen.

Song: “Will You Come and Follow Me: The Summons” by John L. Bell, b. 1949 found in ELW 798

Forgiveness

Jeremiah 31:34

God says: No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

This idea of forgiveness is repeated over and over again in the Bible. Remember how Jesus taught his disciples to pray: “Forgive us our sins.” Whenever we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we repeat these words.

But consider this. Jo Ann was admitted to the psychiatric hospital in her town and was directed to the “Christian Track” in the program. Part of that program was writing a letter to God beginning with the words, “I want to be forgiven for. . .” Jo Ann wrote, “Dear God, I need to forgive myself for. . .” Throughout her stay in the hospital, she frequently heard words of forgiveness and renewed acceptance.

Upon being released from the hospital, she returned to work. She knew what she wanted and needed to do. She made application for a more rewarding and responsible position. In her interview for the job, she said, “I don’t have to keep on being tied down by things that happened in the past. I am forgiven. Now I can focus on the future. I can be me again after these past fifteen hard years. For me, it’s a miracle!”

It is a miracle whenever we seek and receive God’s forgiveness which by nature is God’s to give freely. It is a gift which frees us from our past and releases us for the future. It is a gift given freely and eagerly by God.

For us, however, accepting that forgiveness with our whole being is not easy. Forgiving ourselves and others isn’t easy, either, because it involves our pride. Yet, forgiveness re-establishes wholesome relationships with others and with God. How important it is to boldly and confidently receive and give forgiveness. It opens up a whole world of possibilities. It creates a new relationship with God. God puts our sin out of sight and thought. Forgiveness also causes us to look upon others and to treat others in more gracious and honest ways.

Prayer:  God of Love, I pray that you will forgive me. Thank you for forgiveness and hope and newness. Amen.

Song:  “Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling”   ELW 608

THANKS FOR FOOD AND LABORERS

Exodus 16
The Lord spoke to Moses and said, “I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning, you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’” (vss. 11 & 12)

As I was picking raspberries in the early morning hours, I heard the sheep and goats at a farm not so far away. What a conversation they were having!  Occasionally a rooster would crow its mighty song. The farmer and family who own the sheep, goats, chickens, and cows do not keep a neat farm—it’s messy and it stinks. The noise and smells of the animals annoy some folks around here. But as I listened this morning to the farm sounds near our home in Wenatchee, I was thankful to those farm folks who raise those animals for food for the families around here, for their willingness to be themselves, and for reminding me of the farm where I once lived.

I lived in Kansas and Dad was a farmer. We raised cattle and pigs and had chickens. Dad worked so hard to make enough money from the land to feed us. Mother baked our bread and prepared our meals, cleaned house and barn. The stories I had as a child there are numerous. But we always had food on the table and a welcoming home. I give God thanks for that, too!

I also give thanks to God for all land and its fruitfulness. I give thanks for those who bend their backs to pick the berries, harvest the vegetables, and do the hard labor of picking fruit and planting crops. It is hard work. The work must go on even in the very hot sun, a soaking rain, or a frost-covered morning. Most of us forget the process that precedes our buying the produce in the stores or at the roadside stands. Have you thanked God for the wonders of our world and the food God provides? Have you recently said thanks to those who labor for our food? This Labor Day weekend, we say thanks to all who labor and toil in so many industries and physical jobs to make our lives better.

Prayer: Thank you God of all that is. Thank you for daily food, for fresh raspberries, and for supplying all our needs. Thank you for those who labor in the field or factory or plant so that all of your creation may have their daily needs fulfilled. Thank you God!  Amen.

Song: “We Plow the Fields and Scatter” by Matthias Claudius - ELW 681

Forgetting God

Deuteronomy 6:10-12

When the Lord your God has brought you into the land that he swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—a land with fine, large cities that you did not build, houses filled with all sorts of goods that you did not fill, hewn cisterns that you did not hew, vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant—and when you have eaten your fill, take care that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

Those Israelites of old were not the only ones in danger of “forgetting God.” This passage touches home with us who live comfortably in our communities with very little daily or hourly appreciation for the gifts that surround us. We have home and food, family and friends, our church and the beauty of the creation everywhere we look. It is so easy for us to wake in the morning and go our busy way with very little thought of the giftedness of it all. We are totally engrossed in what we can accomplish or what we need to do or where we are going.

One day, as I hiked the Rattlesnake trail at Sabino Canyon near Tucson, I stopped for an older man coming toward me as he carefully made his way down a rocky ledge. His eyes were trained carefully on the trail, the placement of his feet, worrying about the security of the rock below. In his left hand he carried a pair of hiking poles, tucked safely under his arm. When he was down, he looked up and saw me waiting for him. “That is really tough! Sorry to take so much time.” I replied, “No problem, sir, but why don’t you use those hiking poles you have with you. They really will help!”

Deuteronomy 6 says, “Take care that you do not forget the Lord,” who will help you through the day, who will be there for you when you feel insecure, who has and will provide for your every need.  Take care that you do not forget the Lord.

Prayer: Dear God, I am so glad you are constantly near me. Forgive me when I try to do it all by myself. Thank you for providing for my every need.  Amen.

Songs: “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” by Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey, 1932
             “Lord, Take My Hand and Lead Me” by Julie von Hausmann, 1825-1901

I am lonely

Luke 5:12-14
“Jesus stretched out his hand and healed him.”

Some years ago, we saw the play, Water by the Spoonful by Quiara Alegría Hudes at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. It is a powerful piece.

The play delves into contemporary issues: complexity of online relation­ships, cyber chat-room communities, PTSD/addiction, and at its heart—connection. Here people live in near isolation, yet they reach out to one another despite the odds of making true connections. It demonstrates how people cling to thin threads of hope and the possibility of healing, either through the cyberworld of rehab or spirit world of redemption.

Near the end of the play, two of the characters who have only known each other by the names of Gargantuan and Chutes & Ladders, take a risk and they meet in the real world:

G: “Oh, you dummy, you big old dummy. Put ‘er here, you San Diego Padre.” They shake hands.   
     “What’s your name?”
C&L: “Clay. Clayton “Buddy” Wilkie.”

G: “I’m Madeleine Mays.”

C&L: “It’s weird, huh?”                    

G: “Totally weird. The land of the living.”  At this moment they hug and melt into each other’s arms. 
     It is a hug of basic survival and necessary friendship.

I believe that God was with them in those chat rooms, God nudged them out into world, to find community, to find people like us. As people who walk in the way of Jesus, who also struggle with insecurities and addictions, the question is always before us: how can we help those so lonely, so afraid, so hoping their coping mechanisms don’t fall apart? What a challenge for each of us. Our model is Jesus, who stretched out his hand and healed the leper, the sick, the lonely, the outsider—and you and me.

Prayer: Dear God, here I am. You have lifted me up. Help me to see others in need and let me be your outstretched healing hand. Amen

Song: Will You Let Me Be Your Servant by Richard Gillard, ELW 659

Reflecting on Work

A REFLECTION ON “WORK”

Ephesians 2:8-9

“… by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.”

A Bible study on Ephesians has just begun at Faith Lutheran on Tuesdays at 11 a.m. There is still time for you to participate. As I think upon this letter, I think of the above verses where St. Paul writes that God “graces” us so all that we do is in response to God’s gift of grace.

In the story of Creation found in Genesis 1, we hear the rhythm of God at work. “God said, ‘Let there be light;’ and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.” And so it went: day two, day three, day four, day five, and then day six when God created first the living creatures and wild animals. “Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness… So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.’” And God blessed them and gave all that God had made for the use of humankind. “And it was so. God saw everything that God had made, and indeed, it was very good.”

Then God did something spectacular! After all God’s creative work was completed, “God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.” (Genesis 1:26-31)

Recently I read Practice Resurrection by Eugene H. Peterson who writes, “It is essential that we assimilate God’s Genesis week of work if we are to live what ‘God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.’” Further, he writes:

“Good work and good works are to grace what a pail is to water: a container to get it from the well to the supper table. God’s grace is the content. Our work…is the container” (pp 101-102).

Reflecting upon this concept, I understand that the everyday work we do—serving customers in a fast food restaurant, teaching children how to spell and write, researching the best way to deal with climate changes, finding a cure for a rare skin disease, building a home, or preparing a meal for the family—becomes the container into which God pours his grace. This grace blesses us but it also moves out through us to touch those whom we serve through our everyday occupations.

That means that those who dedicate their lives to “church work” are not blessed more by God than the one who sweeps the floors in a warehouse or operates big equipment in the creation of roads or the one who runs a small family farm. When we are grace-filled by the God who knows and participates in day to day work as reflected in the Genesis narrative, then we are bringing God glory in all that we do. Our work becomes part of God’s plan for us, his creation. God delights when we do our best in everything we do! 

Prayer: Make me an instrument of yours in all that I do or am.  Amen

Song:  “Take My Life, That I May Be” by Frances Havergal             

Let the Little Children Come

Matthew 19:13-14

Little children were being brought to [Jesus] in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them; but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.”

At a recent worship service as Pastor Doug lost his place in his sermon, a child from the back spoke up: “Are you all right, Pastor Doug?” How special it was. This child of God verbalized what some of the adults were thinking! What a gift he is to our congregation.

In a different church one Sunday, we were singing, “Shine, Jesus, shine, fill this land with the Father’s glory; blaze, Spirit, blaze, set our hearts on fire…” There is such joy in that song. A four-year-old girl was swaying back and forth with the music, then moved into the center isle to dance to the glory of God as we sang, “Shine on me, shine on me.” After the service, we noticed the mother of this child crying. Why? Because one of the members had told her she should keep her child under better control, that dancing in the aisle was totally inappropriate! It took time or us to convince the mother that what the woman had said was the inappropriate behavior, not her dancing daughter. This mother fostered four small children under age five!

Times are not as different as they were in the days of Jesus. Children were being brought to Jesus for a blessing and some well-meaning disciples were trying to “protect” him from those who would want Jesus to pay attention to children. Jesus rebuked them, “Let the little children come”. They are part of the Kingdom of God too!

As we gather back into the sanctuary again, let us encourage the children to be part of the worship, the fellowship, the mission, and the ministry of our church. Children of all ages have much to offer. Learn from them, model for them, and accept them for who they are. Together, we can discover and experience God’s Kingdom on earth. 

WELCOME HOME, EVERYONE!

The Voice and Presence of God

The Voice and Presence of God
1 Kings 19:1-16

Israel was in a tense situation when Ahab was king. Ahab built a temple for Baal, and his wife Jezebel brought a large entourage of priests and prophets of Baal and Asherah into the country. In this context Elijah is introduced in 1 Kings 17:1 as Elijah "the Tishbite". Elijah warns Ahab that there will be years of catastrophic drought so severe that not even dew will form, because Ahab and his queen stand at the end of a line of kings of Israel who are said to have "done evil in the sight of the Lord". Elijah did some daring and trouble-making things which put his life in danger, but he has stood up for what he knew God would want. He finds himself “on the run”. You can read the story beginning in 1 Kings 17.

There are times in one’s life when everything seems to be falling apart. The challenges at the time and those that lie ahead seem to be bigger than you think you can handle. It may be a financial crisis, the potential loss of home or job or both. It may be your child who is going down the wrong path—drugs, rough friends, gangs, or showing signs of self-destruction. Your relationships may be falling apart. There are so many scenarios.

I recently faced one of those times. I fell and fractured a bone in my back. A week later, my husband was in the hospital because of pneumonia and heart problems. I was semi-dependent on others and his prognosis was questionable at the best. Each day there were decisions to be made and then those decisions were turned upside down and new ones had to be put in place.

When we finally brought him home, I was scared and felt totally out of control. As a result, I felt like I lashed out at those who were trying to help me. I felt like my life was being tossed and turned by wind, earthquake, and fire. I found myself crying out to God regularly. And in the moments that I spent in the presence of God, in the silence of God’s Spirit touching me and comforting me, I found hope and a future. But only then could I ask forgiveness of those whom I had hurt—the very ones who had given their best for me and my husband.

Trusting God, I experienced peace within. The future, still unknown, began to take shape and healing of mind, body, and spirit quickened. Today, my husband has returned home. He is making great progress of recovery. We look at one another with love and the common knowledge that God was there with us, every hour, every day. Today we praise God and let God create the future for us.

It was out of the silence alone with God, that Elijah was able to hear the Word of God that could show him the future. Not all was done for nothing. Elijah would be able to choose someone else to take up the cause for which he had labored so hard on God’s behalf.

You and I need to remember that in the midst of our greatest moments of service and in the times of our lowest seasons of life, God is there. We are not alone. With God all things are possible. Peace be with you and yours. 

—Tyger Penson

It is Good!

Genesis 1 and Psalm 8

Read Genesis 1. In this creation story, did you notice how it repeated, “God saw that it was good,” over and over again. Then when God created humans it says, “God saw that it was VERY good.”

While living in Wenatchee, Washington, one morning I looked out my kitchen window. I could see a piece of the Columbia River which flows from way up north down to the ocean 1240 miles. Mission Ridge foothills rise up and deep shadows outline its indentations and jutted rocks. Sheep graze in the pasture below. But there is more. Cherry orchards dot the landscape ripe with fruit; and mother Robin is sitting on eggs in a nearby tree! To the west lie the Cascade Mountains. It IS GOOD—really good! They are all gifts from God.

How did all this come about? Genesis is a beautiful poetic description, for sure. If you read the Psalm 8, the writer is totally awed, but neither the writer of Genesis nor the Psalmist answer, HOW did God do it? 

We may leave the details to the astronomer or the scientist to understand. They will tell you we live in a huge universe on planet earth which weighs 6 billion trillion tons and moves around sun 66,000 mph while rotating at the equator at little over 1000 mph.

Then I pick up tiny grain of sand that contains 22 quintillion atoms. I can’t even fathom that!

How magnificent it all is! Open your eyes and see! Then praise God, the author of it all! Use the words of the Psalmist.

    When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars that you have established;
    what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
    mortals that you care for them?

Prayer:  It is good! God, you and all you create is good! It reminds me that if you can do such great things in creation, you will care for me. Thank you. Amen.

Song: “God the Sculptor of the Mountains” by John Thornburg     (ELW 736)

In God's Image (not mine!)

Genesis 1:27—"So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” 

Reading from Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer published in 1939, these thoughts are relevant:

·        God did not make others as I would have made them.

·        God did not give them to me so that I could dominate and control them, but so that I might find the Creator by means of them…

·        God does not want me to mold others into the image that seems good to me, that is, into my own image.

·        Instead, in their freedom from me God made other people in God’s own image.

I went to an emergency room on Friday where these words came to life. Each of us in that medical facility had different needs, expectations, and ways to express our problems. A man who looked as though he had experienced some rough times was concerned that he would be judged by his history of hard drugs, a woman was exceedingly impatient with the nurse and anyone who passed her way, and I was trying to be the strong one when in fact I was in great pain. Our nurse was overwhelmed by it all and would have agreed with Bonhoeffer: “God did not make others as I would have made them.”

It is always the struggle between wanting others to be like us, to conform to our way of thinking, our standards, our perspectives AND to recognize that every human being, those we know and those we don’t, is in fact created by God in God’s own image.  I found it helpful as the minutes turned into hours waiting for my own prognosis to pray for the doctors and nurses who had to deal with so many issues and people all at once. I had to also admit my own weaknesses.

I have a t-shirt from decades ago with these words: “I KNOW I’M SOMEBODY—CAUSE GOD DON’T MAKE NO JUNK!” Those words have served as the basis of poetry, a song sung by Ethel Waters, and words of encouragement for people who experience hatred, discrimination, and bias.   

Whether we are in an emergency room or worshipping at Faith Lutheran Church, buying groceries at Fred Meyer or gardening in our backyard, we are “somebodies” whom God loves—scarred, broken, imperfect people—children of God. God wants all of us to be “people lifters”—lifting one another up—affirming each other’s gifts, NOT judging others, or thinking we are better than they are. Paul puts it this way: “Therefore, children of God, be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.” 

Prayer: God, remind me constantly that You are the Creator, and all people are made in your image. Forgive me when I am critical of others; remind me that you love them the way they are!  Help me to remember that I, too, am your child and you love me just the way I am. Amen.